- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
- Messages
- 85,855
- Reaction score
- 22,314
Update: March 1, 2017
Dragonlord's Review of LOGAN (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: Is to superheroes as Unforgiven was to western, Logan brims with masterful acting, visceral savage action, and stirring poignancy; it's a magnificent send-off to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
Fox finally did it! They finally made a honest-to-goodness great Wolverine movie. Logan also enters trivia history as one of the rare movies where the 3rd film is better than the first two installments.
After portraying the character for 17 years, Logan is Hugh Jackman's last hurrah as this will be his ninth and final appearance as Wolverine. He might have been vertically wrong for the part and not all the X-Men related movies were keepers, but there's no denying Jackman's performance as Wolverine has been terrific. He exudes the swagger and savagery of the character so splendidly. This Wolverine threequel is no different, Jackman delivers a moving, sublime performance and vulnerability to cap off a tremendous run at the character.
In Logan, the story is set in 2029 where the X-Men are gone, most of the mutants are dead and there's no mutant born in the past 10 years or so. A shell of his former self, Logan is now an alcoholic limo driver. His healing factor is on the fritz and he's slowly dying. Living in an abandoned farm on the Mexican border, Logan is the custodian of a senile Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) whose suffering from degenerative disorder. Their lives are threatened by dark forces when a young mutant, Laura, arrives.
Having escaped from the research facility of Transigen, Laura a.k.a. X-23 exhibits the same healing powers as Wolverine as well as being given Adamantium claws of her own. Making her feature film debut, newcomer Dafne Keen plays Laura impeccably. The natural state of her face radiates a feral quality that is unleashed with such ferocity when she explodes into action. Not since the debut of Hit-Girl in 2010's Kick-Ass has such an adorable child character made so much impact on an action film.
Chasing after our heroes are the cyborg mercenaries Reavers led by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook). Holbrook's Pierce is an enjoyable lead villain; he plays the role with charm and proficiency. Also really liked the Reavers' distinct but subtle cyberpunk look.
Logan is not only Jackman's last appearance in the X-Men franchise, it's also Patrick Stewart's swan song as he retires from playing Charles Xavier after this. The R-rating not only benefited the film's action sequence but it also allowed Stewart the freedom to cut loose and give a masterful, heartbreaking performance, not to mention the amusement of seeing Xavier cursing. Xavier and Logan also share an amazing chemistry and relationship dynamics that really shines naturally after sharing the screen together for the past 17 years.
Probably one of the most beloved characters in cinema, it's heart-wrenching to see Xavier suffering from debilitating mental disorder. He's such in bad shape that he's now considered as a weapon of mass destruction. Again, Stewart's performance is so superb, it definitely warrants a Best Supporting nod at next year's Oscars.
Though all the supporting characters and actors were adept and written competently, a special nod goes out to Stephen Merchant who plays the mutant-tracker Caliban and co-caretaker of Xavier. The role is not that flashy but Merchant did a remarkable job providing some subtle humor, dramatic moments and great persiflage between him and Logan.
Finally giving fans what they have been craving for - a rated R Wolverine movie, Logan goes all-out in the action department with Wolverine and X-23 graphically slashing people's bodies, slicing off limbs and bloodily skewering their faces. The action and fight scenes are choreographed spectacularly.
There's also a dark and surprising horror element to the film, especially during the second half where a new threat emerges. Composer Marco Beltrami thankfully keeps the heroic music to a bare minimum, focusing more on ominous and foreboding tension.
The ending to the 2nd act felt like the movie's finale which affected the 3rd act. It loses a little steam and feels a tad overdrawn. The 2nd half of Logan also shares a lot of similarities from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and borrows many elements from the terrible first movie (see spoiler thoughts below).
Overall, Logan is to superheroes as Unforgiven was to western; it's a mature, superhero deconstruction film that's part modern nihilistic western (there's even an obvious Shane reference in the film) and part road-trip adventure thriller. The film was derided and belittled by almost everyone during the early stages (guilty), but writer-director James Mangold proves the pundits wrong by crafting one of the best comic book movies ever made.
Rating: 9/10
Spoiler Thoughts and Musings Below:
As I said above, some parts of Logan's 2nd half eerily reminded of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
1. The bad guys unleash a genetically modified soulless, killing-machine mutant. In Origins, it was Weapon XI a.k.a. super sucky Deadpool. In Logan, it was the Wolverine clone.
2. Wolverine stays with a family in their farm and the family ends up being killed by the bad guys. In Origins, the Hudsons took Wolverine in and got bullet holes for their troubles. In Logan, Eric La Salle's family invites Wolverine to their home and got a shish kebab'd in the process.
3. Mutant children are being hunted and rounded up by the bad guys. In Origins and Logan, all the mutant kids managed to escape in the end with some using their powers in the process.
Though Logan is not based on Old Man Logan comic book (not even loosely based), there is still a quasi homage to it when it's revealed that Professor X, not Wolverine, killed the X-Men when he suffered one of his seizures.
It's strongly hinted that Charles did something awful to the X-Men and fans will be slowly dreading the reveal during the first hour. But when it's finally revealed that Charles killed them and he finally knows what he did for the first time, that scene was just heartbreaking.
Wolverine can't bear to end Xavier's suffering but he also can't take the risk of Xavier having an episode and killing a lot of people, so he tries to buy that Sunseeker yacht where Charles wills spend his remaining days in the middle of the ocean and away from civilization. Wolverine, who is also slowly and painfully dying due to Adamantium poisoning, will kill himself with the Adamantium bullet after Xavier dies.
Though was not a fan of the idea of X-24, the concept grew on me after a day of thinking it over. There's a twisted but brilliant logic to using X-24 as the final opponent. In some ways, X-24 is Wolverine's darker ego, the uncontrollable berserker animal that he has been struggling to control for all his life and Wolverine's last battle is with himself. In a poetic fashion, Wolverine gets his wish of killing himself in the end through his clone's hands.
The question of where did all the mutants go are answered when it's revealed that Transigen's Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant) genetically modified the crops to suppress the mutant gene and that's why there's no new mutants born. As for the existing mutants, Transigen hunted them down (with the help of Caliban), experimented on them and eventually killed them.
A weakened Logan using a gun to kill Zander Rice and disable Pierce was a surprising move but a nice touch in practicality.
Seeing Wolverine so pathetic at the beginning was sad and amusing at the same time. And Wolverine jumping in front of a bullet to save his limousine from being damaged was funny.
One perplexing question and possible plot hole that bugged me was why didn't the Reavers try to kill X-23 on the spot and instead tried their hardest to capture her. They're just going to kill her when they get back to their headquarters, why not kill her right there and then. Same goes for the mutant children at the end. Why bother capturing them (and risking getting killed themselves) when you're just going to kill the kids back home. They already have their gene samples back at the lab.
Having the Reavers try to kill the mutant kids at the end instead of trying to capture them would have been so much better as it would have raised the stakes and tension higher.
Logan's ending credits used Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around." This is the second time they've stolen my idea (the first time was using "Hurt" in the trailer). Damn you, James Mangold! Stop reading my posts! (j/k)
When Wolverine says, "so this is what it feels like," there will be many interpretations but all of them will not fit perfectly and will contradict with previous X-Men and Wolverine movies. If it's love and intimacy, Wolverine already had those with his past relationships with Jean Grey, Silverfox (assuming he remembers them) and a few more. If it's dying, he has also had numerous near death or "dying" experiences. If it's having a family or a life, he already had that with the X-Men and Silverfox.
So the correct answer to the "so this is what it feels like" line is it's his first time being impaled on a tree (lol).
Or this one below:
Dragonlord's Review of LOGAN (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: Is to superheroes as Unforgiven was to western, Logan brims with masterful acting, visceral savage action, and stirring poignancy; it's a magnificent send-off to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
Fox finally did it! They finally made a honest-to-goodness great Wolverine movie. Logan also enters trivia history as one of the rare movies where the 3rd film is better than the first two installments.
After portraying the character for 17 years, Logan is Hugh Jackman's last hurrah as this will be his ninth and final appearance as Wolverine. He might have been vertically wrong for the part and not all the X-Men related movies were keepers, but there's no denying Jackman's performance as Wolverine has been terrific. He exudes the swagger and savagery of the character so splendidly. This Wolverine threequel is no different, Jackman delivers a moving, sublime performance and vulnerability to cap off a tremendous run at the character.
In Logan, the story is set in 2029 where the X-Men are gone, most of the mutants are dead and there's no mutant born in the past 10 years or so. A shell of his former self, Logan is now an alcoholic limo driver. His healing factor is on the fritz and he's slowly dying. Living in an abandoned farm on the Mexican border, Logan is the custodian of a senile Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) whose suffering from degenerative disorder. Their lives are threatened by dark forces when a young mutant, Laura, arrives.
Having escaped from the research facility of Transigen, Laura a.k.a. X-23 exhibits the same healing powers as Wolverine as well as being given Adamantium claws of her own. Making her feature film debut, newcomer Dafne Keen plays Laura impeccably. The natural state of her face radiates a feral quality that is unleashed with such ferocity when she explodes into action. Not since the debut of Hit-Girl in 2010's Kick-Ass has such an adorable child character made so much impact on an action film.
Chasing after our heroes are the cyborg mercenaries Reavers led by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook). Holbrook's Pierce is an enjoyable lead villain; he plays the role with charm and proficiency. Also really liked the Reavers' distinct but subtle cyberpunk look.
Logan is not only Jackman's last appearance in the X-Men franchise, it's also Patrick Stewart's swan song as he retires from playing Charles Xavier after this. The R-rating not only benefited the film's action sequence but it also allowed Stewart the freedom to cut loose and give a masterful, heartbreaking performance, not to mention the amusement of seeing Xavier cursing. Xavier and Logan also share an amazing chemistry and relationship dynamics that really shines naturally after sharing the screen together for the past 17 years.
Probably one of the most beloved characters in cinema, it's heart-wrenching to see Xavier suffering from debilitating mental disorder. He's such in bad shape that he's now considered as a weapon of mass destruction. Again, Stewart's performance is so superb, it definitely warrants a Best Supporting nod at next year's Oscars.
Though all the supporting characters and actors were adept and written competently, a special nod goes out to Stephen Merchant who plays the mutant-tracker Caliban and co-caretaker of Xavier. The role is not that flashy but Merchant did a remarkable job providing some subtle humor, dramatic moments and great persiflage between him and Logan.
Finally giving fans what they have been craving for - a rated R Wolverine movie, Logan goes all-out in the action department with Wolverine and X-23 graphically slashing people's bodies, slicing off limbs and bloodily skewering their faces. The action and fight scenes are choreographed spectacularly.
There's also a dark and surprising horror element to the film, especially during the second half where a new threat emerges. Composer Marco Beltrami thankfully keeps the heroic music to a bare minimum, focusing more on ominous and foreboding tension.
The ending to the 2nd act felt like the movie's finale which affected the 3rd act. It loses a little steam and feels a tad overdrawn. The 2nd half of Logan also shares a lot of similarities from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and borrows many elements from the terrible first movie (see spoiler thoughts below).
Overall, Logan is to superheroes as Unforgiven was to western; it's a mature, superhero deconstruction film that's part modern nihilistic western (there's even an obvious Shane reference in the film) and part road-trip adventure thriller. The film was derided and belittled by almost everyone during the early stages (guilty), but writer-director James Mangold proves the pundits wrong by crafting one of the best comic book movies ever made.
Rating: 9/10
Spoiler Thoughts and Musings Below:
As I said above, some parts of Logan's 2nd half eerily reminded of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
1. The bad guys unleash a genetically modified soulless, killing-machine mutant. In Origins, it was Weapon XI a.k.a. super sucky Deadpool. In Logan, it was the Wolverine clone.
2. Wolverine stays with a family in their farm and the family ends up being killed by the bad guys. In Origins, the Hudsons took Wolverine in and got bullet holes for their troubles. In Logan, Eric La Salle's family invites Wolverine to their home and got a shish kebab'd in the process.
3. Mutant children are being hunted and rounded up by the bad guys. In Origins and Logan, all the mutant kids managed to escape in the end with some using their powers in the process.
Though Logan is not based on Old Man Logan comic book (not even loosely based), there is still a quasi homage to it when it's revealed that Professor X, not Wolverine, killed the X-Men when he suffered one of his seizures.
It's strongly hinted that Charles did something awful to the X-Men and fans will be slowly dreading the reveal during the first hour. But when it's finally revealed that Charles killed them and he finally knows what he did for the first time, that scene was just heartbreaking.
Wolverine can't bear to end Xavier's suffering but he also can't take the risk of Xavier having an episode and killing a lot of people, so he tries to buy that Sunseeker yacht where Charles wills spend his remaining days in the middle of the ocean and away from civilization. Wolverine, who is also slowly and painfully dying due to Adamantium poisoning, will kill himself with the Adamantium bullet after Xavier dies.
Though was not a fan of the idea of X-24, the concept grew on me after a day of thinking it over. There's a twisted but brilliant logic to using X-24 as the final opponent. In some ways, X-24 is Wolverine's darker ego, the uncontrollable berserker animal that he has been struggling to control for all his life and Wolverine's last battle is with himself. In a poetic fashion, Wolverine gets his wish of killing himself in the end through his clone's hands.
The question of where did all the mutants go are answered when it's revealed that Transigen's Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant) genetically modified the crops to suppress the mutant gene and that's why there's no new mutants born. As for the existing mutants, Transigen hunted them down (with the help of Caliban), experimented on them and eventually killed them.
A weakened Logan using a gun to kill Zander Rice and disable Pierce was a surprising move but a nice touch in practicality.
Seeing Wolverine so pathetic at the beginning was sad and amusing at the same time. And Wolverine jumping in front of a bullet to save his limousine from being damaged was funny.
One perplexing question and possible plot hole that bugged me was why didn't the Reavers try to kill X-23 on the spot and instead tried their hardest to capture her. They're just going to kill her when they get back to their headquarters, why not kill her right there and then. Same goes for the mutant children at the end. Why bother capturing them (and risking getting killed themselves) when you're just going to kill the kids back home. They already have their gene samples back at the lab.
Having the Reavers try to kill the mutant kids at the end instead of trying to capture them would have been so much better as it would have raised the stakes and tension higher.
Logan's ending credits used Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around." This is the second time they've stolen my idea (the first time was using "Hurt" in the trailer). Damn you, James Mangold! Stop reading my posts! (j/k)
When Wolverine says, "so this is what it feels like," there will be many interpretations but all of them will not fit perfectly and will contradict with previous X-Men and Wolverine movies. If it's love and intimacy, Wolverine already had those with his past relationships with Jean Grey, Silverfox (assuming he remembers them) and a few more. If it's dying, he has also had numerous near death or "dying" experiences. If it's having a family or a life, he already had that with the X-Men and Silverfox.
So the correct answer to the "so this is what it feels like" line is it's his first time being impaled on a tree (lol).
Or this one below:
